‘It
left me with the feeling – I can do anything! For that,
I cannot thank you enough.’
Jane

Health

Health and fitness
- healthy eating and healthy living are fundamental to
our well being. Healthy eating is a particular subject
near to my heart. Whilst I am not here to give health
advice, I do have many thoughts…..

Look
to your health; and if you have it, praise God and value
it next to conscience; for health is the second blessing
that we mortals are capable of, a blessing money can't
buy.
Izaak Walton

Look after
your health

Having had a recent
debilitating illness (albeit not life threatening) I came
out of it realising how absolutely bereft I was when I
hadn't the energy or motivation to pursue my goals. I
became aware that I must guard my health as if it were
the most valuable commodity on this earth. Here are some
cursory thoughts!

Your mind
affects your body

This was once a source
of discussion but even doctors now know that our mental
states affect us - If I asked you to imagine you were
really ill, in pain all over and utterly exhausted right
now - would you do it? I doubt it - because you don't
want to feel ill, in pain or exhausted - yet I am only
asking you to imagine it! And if you believe
that imagining it might brave an effect on your body,
then what is to stop you from imagining that you feel
really full of energy, that the paint that you might be
feeling has reduced to virtually nothing, (for when you
are thinking of other things you are not aware of the
pain so much) .

If, then, you can
choose what you are feeling, then you can choose to be
optimistic (research shows that you can have a longer
life if you are optimistic), or choose to feel happy,
or choose to feel confident (or indeed what ever you want
to feel) and you can believe that you can change your
health too.

Stress

It is vital that you
have a positive attitude to stress. Stress is caused by
the body, or mind, not coping with life's challenges.
That is why coaching is so valuable for you can change
your responses and eliminate the negative effects. Some
stress is healthy - indeed some say we all need it, but
we need to be able to handle it. .

Worry - which is one
of the elements of stress - invariably comes about because
we haven't anything better to occupy our minds. Who benefits
from worry? (Do you? do the people you worry about?) No
one benefits from worry- so why do it? Either accept or
act

Exercise

There are different
types of exercise.

There are the exercises
to build up strength and stamina - usually associated
with running, swimming and cycling - vital to strengthen
the heart I climb the 1 in 3 hill behind my house as often
as I can -(I aim for daily but doin't always manage it.
Then there are the exercises to keep the body supple -
yoga type exercises or calanetics - or simple stretching.
Our bodies get stiff if we don't exercise - even children
have been found to have reduced body flexibility as a
result of sitting in front of televisions and computers.
I do 20 minutes of yoga type exercises every day without
fail and they have worked wonders on my flexibility.

Brain
Gym

If you are interested in
improving your flexibility as well as improving
your mind you could do well to look at 'Brain Gym'
which is based on exercises calculated to improve
concentration and mind power, and encourage cross
laterality (which enables more flexibility of mind)
You can find out more here.
Brain Gym comes from Educational Kinesiology which
was developed to help badly disabled children, but
has been found to help all of us to improve our
mind/body co-ordination. If you want to read about
it read 'Smart Moves' (details in recommended books)

Food

Eat for energy. There
are more diets on the market than you have had hot dinners!
My take on food is to do everything I can not to put chemicals
and additives into my b- where I can I eat organic home
grown foods, barely cooked or raw.

I won't eat processed
foods - I make my own so I know what the ingredients are.
I go as far as grinding my own wheat (from hard and soft
grain) to make my bread and cakes; I make my own yogurt
and in an attempt to reduce my dairy intake make rice
milk. Of course I make my own preserves and freeze my
home grown produce, save the autumn fruit for the winter
and make cordials from elderflowers and other available
wild plants. And I get my own back on those nettles by
eating them in soup - they are quite delicious has often
been said that you are what you eat. However the best
way to eat healthily is to eat what you like and to notice
how your body reacts to it. So become aware of your body's
responses - if you feel bloated you are eating too much.
If you feel uncomfortable perhaps this is not the food
for you. Notice how much energy you have after your foods
- for some foods will reduce your energy and some increase
it. Experiment

Sleep

Regular sleep is considered
to be the ideal. If you are like Margaret Thatcher and
need very little then fine (you are lucky having so many
more waking hours to achieve your goals) or if you need
a lot so be it - but ensure that it is regular. Know whether
you are a 'night owl' going to bed late and getting up
late - or an 'early bird' going to bed early and waking
at dawn - just follow your body clock.

And you may be a person
who can nap It is reckoned that a 15 minute nap, any time
in the day, can renew your energy and concentration -
if you can do it then great.